The Thieves Guild Chap 17

Crunch.

Leaves next to his house

Valen froze.

He ran outside to see…nothing?

A second later, he whipped his head to the left.

The bush near the shed rustled. Too deliberately.

Valen’s eyes narrowed. He loosened his cloak, letting it fall to the grass. His hands dropped to his belt, unclipping the hilts of the Spider Fang Duel Blades.

Silence.

He edged forward, each step measured.

Then a blur surged out from behind the bush — a shadow clad in patchwork leather and a grimy hood.

The dagger came first.

Valen ducked, pivoted, and slashed upward with his right-hand blade. Metal scraped against metal as the thief deflected the blow mid-air and rolled to Valen’s side.

“Damn kid moves like a ghost,” the man spat.

Valen didn’t speak. He let instinct take over.

The thief lunged again, this time feinting low and cutting high. Valen caught the motion a breath before it happened, shifting into a parry with his left blade, then slashing horizontally with the right.

The thief yelped, stumbling back, a red line now across his side.

“You got good gear for a villager brat,” he snarled. “That blade. That armor. You think people ain’t noticed?”

Valen’s expression didn’t change.

The man laughed. “You think you’re the only one crawling out of dungeons with treasure? No. But you… you’re alone. You’re easy. And easy means profit.”

He lunged again — faster this time, desperate. Valen stepped into the attack and used Echo Step.

The thunderclap cracked through the trees as Valen blurred behind him, one blade cutting clean across the man’s back. The thief staggered.

Valen didn’t give him a chance to recover.

Phantom Slash.

Two blinding slashes in the shape of an X flared out, afterimages crashing into the man from two directions.

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The thief collapsed with a strangled gasp, gurgling in the grass.

Blood pooled under him.

Valen exhaled, lowering his blades. He stepped back, wary in case it was a feint — but the man didn’t move again.

His heart still pounded. He crouched beside the body and looked it over. No guild tag. No insignia. Just a rogue.

Or so he thought.

Valen turned to go.

Then something caught his eye that man’s shoulder

He paused when he saw it.

A thin, circular object clung to the fabric near the collar.

He yanked it off the man.

A small bronze badge. Weathered. No bigger than a coin. Etched with the image of a skeletal hand wrapped around a coin.

Valen’s stomach dropped.

This wasn’t just a lone thug.

It was a marker. Not magical. Just a badge. A symbol.

One that only belonged to one group: the Thieves' Guild.

They’d tagged him.

He stared at the badge, fingers tightening around it.

“...So it’s not over,” he muttered.

He looked toward the house. Then to the dark woods beyond his home.

He wasn’t just a nobody anymore. Someone had decided he was worth watching.

Valen clenched the badge in his fist, then slipped inside the and locked the door.

No more distractions tonight. He had to think.

But he didn’t throw the badge away.

He kept it.

As a reminder.

A goal he needed to get stronger to get to his next class upgrade

Only a couple more levels to go

Ill go to the dungeon to get the rest of the money for my spatial bag and level up

Then ill think of my next step with the thieves guild

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[Status Screen – Valen]

Name: Valen

Age: 15

Level: 21

Class: Legendary Swordsman

Subclasses: Berserker (Unlocked), Duel Blader (Unlocked)

Race: Human

Title(s): [2nd floor cave Dungeon Survivor], Elite Slayer,LEGENDARY class

equipment:

* Spider Fang Dual Blades

* Leather Tunic and cloak

* Bone sword

Skills:

Swordsman

Passive------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* Swordmaster's Flow : Slight mana regeneration when chaining attacks seamlessly (Uncommon Passive)

A 15% boost to all stats: due it being legendary

Heightened intuition: allows the user to sense incoming danger, read body movement, and anticipate attacks

Instinctive Parry: a small chsance of activating which can reduce damage by about 40%

Active-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quickdraw: Allows for lightning-fast unsheathing and first strike in combat. Can be chained into other skills.

Precision slash: A well-placed strike that deals bonus damage to weak points.

Berserker

Momentum slash:uses the bodies movement to increase damage DMG will vary based on SPD

Passive----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fury drive: every hit taken builds up to max and can be activated to enter overdrive mode

Unyielding will: makes you Immune to status effects like fear, stun, or mind control while below 25% HP.

Active------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overdrive: Temporarily increases strength, speed, and damage resistance. Skills become enhanced versions while active but drains stamina rapidly

Raged Cleave: A wide, brutal swing that knocks back multiple enemies

Duel Blader

Passive-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mirrored movement: Using two weapons improves agility and attack speed

Blade Shift: can quickly change movements from defensive, evasive and aggressive even in mid air

Active----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Phantom slash: is a cross-slash that leaves afterimages, hitting twice in one instant

Duel parry: Blocks incoming attacks from two directions simultaneously but needs precise timing

Echo step A flash step That creates a loud noise and if used when attacking will hit enemy twice